Early July marked two very different approaches to justice. One towards Native people and another towards non-natives Steve and Dwight Hammond, who were convicted in 2012 of setting fires that spread on government-managed land near their ranch in Oregon.On July 8, Water Protector Red Fawn Fallis was sentenced for her involvement as a Water Protector at Standing Rock. Judge Daniel Hovland sentenced Red Fawn Fallis to a total of 57 months in federal prison. She received a credit of 18 months ‘time served’ based on her time in North Dakota jails.

Red Fawn’s case has been a major concern to Water Protectors. Despite over 800 arrests, the commitment to non violence was consistent. The case against Red Fawn had centered around allegations she fired a gun during her arrest on October 27, 2016, during a massive military raid. The gun allegedly fired by Fallis was later revealed to have belonged to Heath Harmon, an undercover FBI informant who was romantically involved with Red Fawn at the time of her arrest.

Two federal defendants indicted in connection to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests have accepted plea agreements.

Both deals with federal prosecutors are similar: Dion Ortiz and James White will each plead guilty to civil disorder, while prosecutors will move to dismiss charges of use of fire to commit a federal felony — similar to related defendants' plea deals.

Both deals with federal prosecutors are similar: Dion Ortiz and James White will each plead guilty to civil disorder, while prosecutors will move to dismiss charges of use of fire to commit a federal felony — similar to related defendants' plea deals.

#NoDAPL water protector Red Fawn Fallis was sentenced July 11 to 57 months in prison by a federal judge in North Dakota. She was given 18 months’ credit for time served prior to trial, and will have three years of probation supervision after her release. She and her family await news of where she will serve time, possibly in Arizona.

An appeals court on Friday sided with environmentalists who challenged the decision by federal agencies to allow construction of a 300-mile natural gas pipeline on a swath of national forest.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond cancels permits issued by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service allowing the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cut through the Jefferson National Forest.

On Wednesday July 11, Red Fawn Fallis, 39, Lakota and the most high profile water protector charged with a felony at Standing Rock was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison with 18 months for time served. Her legal team will not appeal.

Fallis was found guilty of one count of civil disorder and one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. In the video of her arrest on October 27, 2016, Fallis, a medic at the camp, can be seen arriving on an ATV where a line of police in riot gear are faced off with water protectors. The wall of men parts and a deputy tackles her saying he heard her shouting “water is life.”

State and federal prosecutions of Native Americans and their allies who protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline are drawing closer to an end, as two more protesters agreed to plea deals.

Since the demonstrations at Standing Rock, we’ve followed the case of Red Fawn Fallis, a member of Denver’s indigenous community who was arrested on October 27, 2016, and accused of firing a gun at police officers. In a now infamous video, Fallis is seen tackled to the ground and surrounded by dozens of police officers during a protest against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. As she’s being arrested, at least three gunshots ring out, though the video does not clearly show who fired the shots.

Federal prosecutors claimed Fallis was at fault, and that she intended to harm the officers. At one point, she faced the possibility of life in prison. The case sparked outrage in Denver’s indigenous community, which rallied around one of its own.Fallis's situation not only spawned benefit concerts and support rallies in Denver, but took on a life of its own and spawned a national #FreeRedFawn Movement.

What happened to Standing Rock water protector Red Fawn Fallis is what has happened to many women political dissenters who go up against Big Government/Corporate power. After she was viciously tackled by several police officers (caught on video), she was brought up on serious charges of harming those who harmed her. Fallis, after months of intense corporate/military surveillance and handy informant reports, was targeted as a coordinator and a leader, a symbol and an inspiration. For daring to make a stand for her people against the encroaching poison and destruction brought by the Dakota Access gas pipeline, she became a political prisoner.

In British Columbia’s southern interior, on unceded land of the Secwepemc Nation, Kanahus Manuel stands alongside a 7-by-12-foot “tiny house” mounted on a trailer. Her uncle screws a two-by-four into a floor panel while her brother-in-law paints a mural on the exterior walls depicting a moose, birds, forests, and rivers — images of the terrain through which the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will pass, if it can get through the Tiny House Warriors’ roving blockade. The project would place a new pipeline alongside the existing Trans Mountain line, tripling the system’s capacity to 890,000 barrels of tar sands bitumen flowing daily from Alberta through British Columbia to an endpoint outside Vancouver.

After a long and heartbreaking period of incarceration, shut away from all who love her, our dear relative Red Fawn Fallis--the peaceful warrior who was targeted by the U.S. government and corporate oil profiteers for standing bravely for the rights of all people, all life, and all creation--was sentenced to 57 months in prison at her hearing in Bismarck, North Dakota, on July 11th.

As of November 2016, 76 local, county, and state agencies had deployed officers to Standing Rock. Between August 2016 and February 2017, authorities made 761 arrests. One protester was arrested and slammed to the ground during a prayer ceremony; another described being put in “actual dog kennels” with “photos of the types of dogs on the walls and piss stains on the floor” in lieu of jail. She wasn’t told she was under arrest; she wasn’t read her rights. Once detained, protesters were strip searched and denied medical care. Belongings and money were confiscated, the latter never returned.

In Bismarck, North Dakota, an indigenous water protector who was arrested during protests in 2016 against the Dakota Access pipeline has been sentenced to four years and nine months in federal prison. Prosecutors said Red Fawn Fallis fired three shots from a handgun as police in riot gear, wielding batons, surrounded her to make an arrest on October 27 amid mass protests against the pipeline. Fallis was one of 761 people arrested during indigenous-led resistance to the pipeline in 2016 and ’17.

Second Standing Rock Federal Case ConcludesBismarck, ND: Red Fawn Fallis was sentenced today to a 57 month federal prison term pursuant to a non-cooperating plea agreement, becoming the second Water Protector arrested in relation to the DAPL pipeline resistance at Standing Rock to be sentenced to a substantial prison term and the second of the five federal cases that the Water Protector Legal Collective is handling to conclude.

After over 20 months of incarceration for defending the sacred water and all life at Standing Rock, our strong and brave relative Red Fawn’s federal sentencing hearing is now less than three days away--Wednesday, July 11th, from 1:30-5pm at the US District Court, 220 E Rosser Avenue in Bismarck, North Dakota.

We are writing to let you know that Red Fawn's sentencing hearing did not happen today in Bismarck. Because the presiding Judge Holland took ill and was hospitalized, her hearing has been postponed--perhaps until July 10th or 11th.

Please let our people/community know that I love them. I am honored to be where I am at for them. I want our people to know to never give up. The movement continues, don't lose hope and keep praying. Our struggle continues. Remember what we stood for. Continue to fight for our existence!